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Author:

Marko Bojcun

The debacle at Debaltseve in the days following the Minsk 2 accords has given rise to two major developments.

The Ukrainian government is seeking a European Union police mission to help it hold the line against the separatists and their Russian backers; and seventeen volunteer battalions have established a joint leadership and headquarters to make them a more effective fighting force.

Both developments stem from the same recognition of the military inferiority of the Ukrainian side facing an adversary that is ready and willing to press forward into new territory.

Greater military capacity, from within Ukraine or from without, cannot on its own prevent further defeats and losses of territory by the Ukrainian side unless Russia stops backing the separatists.

Around the world:

Author:

Dale Street

The Stop the War Coalition (SWC) and the Solidarity with the Antifascist Resistance in Ukraine (SARU) campaign are staging a protest about Ukraine in London on Sunday 22 February.

In the course of 2014 Russia annexed Crimea, encouraged and organised separatist agitation in the south-east of Ukraine, invaded Ukraine in late August, and consistently provided the separatists with some of the most modern munitions and weaponry available.

SWC and SARU have therefore decided to picket – the US Embassy!

The Stop the War Coalition and Solidarity with the Antifascist Resistance in Ukraine are staging a protest about Ukraine in London on Sunday 22 February.

The AWL, Labour and the Left:

Publications:

Author:

Dale Street

As we go to press on 17 February, fighting continues in the south-east of Ukraine despite the “peace deal” agreed in Minsk on 12 February.

The “peace deal” had been negotiated by the German, French, Russian and Ukrainian heads of state. Representatives of the so-called Donetsk and Lugansk “People’s Republics” (DPR and LPR) had also been present in Minsk, but not directly involved in the negotiations.

The evidence of the first few days of the peace deal is that it will prove no more viable than its predecessor.

Around the world:

Author:

Dale Street

At the time of going to press, negotiations are continuing about ending the fighting in the south-east of Ukraine. France, Germany, Russia, the US and Ukraine are involved in the negotiations. Further talks are due to take place in Minsk on Wednesday (11 February).

Fighting resumed in late January, when Alexander Zakharchenko, leader of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), announced a new offensive on all fronts. Since then, the Russian-separatist forces have extended the area under their control.

According to military experts, Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008 revealed major weaknesses in its equipment and armaments. A major modernisation programme was subsequently undertaken. Its results are now being “tested” in Ukraine.

Author:

Dale Street

Russian-separatist forces based in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) have launched a major offensive against Ukrainian government forces in order to seize more territory.

The DPR was formally declared last May, after a sham referendum in which voters were not even asked if they backed independence. The DPR “head of state”, Alexander Zakharchenko, was appointed by Moscow in August, shortly before Russia escalated its aggression against Ukraine by invading the south-east of the country.

Russian-separatist forces based in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic have launched a major offensive against Ukrainian government forces in order to seize more territory.

Author:

Dale Street

Attacks on LGBT people in Russia have increased as much as tenfold since the Russian Duma voted in June of 2013 to outlaw “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations among minors.”

A recent Human Rights Watch report documented physical attacks, abductions, aggressive harassment and verbal abuse of LGBT people and activists in 16 Russian cities. LGBT employees working with children were routinely sacked from their jobs if their sexual orientation became known.

Attacks on LGBT people in Russia have increased tenfold since the Duma voted last year to outlaw “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations among minors.”

Author:

Dale Street

Events in Ukraine in 2014 divided the left in Britain, just as they divided the left internationally.

In Britain one the organisations most vociferous in arguing that the Maidan protests were dominated by fascists, culminated in a fascist-led coup, and then triggered a genocidal civil war against the forces of the anti-fascist resistance was Workers Power (WP).

A review of the literature on Ukraine produced by Workers Power, the British left group which has apologised most prolifically for Russian nationalism and imperialism.

Author:

Dale Street

On 4 November fascists and other ultra-nationalists marked the Day of Popular Unity by staging a series of demonstrations and rallies in Russia cities.

The Day of Popular Unity is an official public holiday which commemorates the 1612 liberation of Moscow from Polish occupation. The holiday was celebrated under the Tsars, scrapped by the Bolsheviks in 1917, and reinstituted by Putin in 2005.

Demonstrations of fascists and ultra-nationalists took place across Russia on 4 November.